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Earlier this year I made a custom "Claptrap" model that proved to be rather popular and was very quickly snatched up!This inspired me to take my second voyage on the good ship HIPS and make a custom collectable Yoshi figure from the popular "Super Mario" franchise. The idea for this was inspired by the work of Jason Freeny, who customises many figures from popular culture with cut out sections revealing biological and anatomical insides. Since my area of enthusiasm is more geared towards robotics (pun intentional), I decided to try a similar idea with cut out sections that reveal my own interpretations of the kind of robotics that would be needed to make that character do their thing!

I've added some progress photos of the project so far and should this one prove popular, I have a couple more figures that may go under the knife in the future. Yoshi will be a one of a kind custom collectable, which when finished, will have his own props and habitat for display.

I shall be adding another blog when he is completed to show his journey from vinyl to robot!

I found some 2mm HIPS plastic sheets in my shed and decided to have a go at making a little something! Most of you will be familiar with "Claptraps" - robots from the videogame series "Borderlands".

Whilst remaining fairly faithful to the game design, I made some slight alterations of my own, adding some details that I felt fitted the character. The paint was applied using an airbrush and was also my first real effort with this tool, so it was a project of many firsts! Some finishes were applied by hand using dry brushing techniques.

This little guy will be up for sale as soon as he is photographed and I intend to make more characters to be housed in bell jars as specimens!

I have started working on a new addition to the family of robots I make. This one will be a little different as she will be a wall mounted robot, though still able to be fully posed to bring out her character. Junko will be a much smaller robot than the EDX01, though I am currently looking at making two sizes with slightly different designs.

The name "Junko" is inspired by mountain climber, Junko Tabei, who was the first woman to climb Mount Everest in 1975 and then the first woman to climb the highest points on each of the 7 continents in 1992. She also scaled the highest points in 60 countries. When this project was started we were amazed that she was still continuing with her work, supporting sustainable mountaineering and by the feats she accomplished despite the beliefs that many had about women's roles at the time when she was forming female climbing organisations and leading her team to complete such amazing goals. Since this project began, she has sadly passed away at the age of 77 but continued her work and passions throughout her life. She was and will remain, a very inspiring woman who changed the face of mountaineering with her determination and bravery.

Here is a more detailed video of the "Mikonis" project I featured earlier this month. This drive was commisioned as part of a promotional idea that sadly did not come to fruition but I would very much like to thank Tenthwave Ditigal for giving me the opportunity to make one of the most elaborate and interesting projects I have ever done. The drive was made out of 3 distinct and unusual materials. The internal chassis was made out of the motherboard of an original Apple Lisa computer, the wood was from the HMS victory and the metal skin came from a B17 flying fortress that crashed in Lincolnshire during WW2. The final prototype had as many moving parts as the average pocket watch! I sincerely hope to get the chance to do projects like this again in the future as it pushed me to become a better creator!